Rey Avila named Citizen of the Year for work preserving Conjunto music, heritage

Rey Avila1

Rey Avila, founder of the Texas Conjunto Music Hall of Fame and Museum in San Benito, is shown inside the the San Benito Museums where the HOF’s exhibit has on display a number of artificats that Avila has helped preserve. (Staff photos by Monica Zuñiga)

By MONICA ZUÑIGA
Staff Writer
reporter@sbnewspaper.com

Rey Avila2If San Benito is considered the Conjunto capital of the world, it’s largely because Reynaldo Avila helps remind everybody why.

His contributions to the city’s musical heritage have helped him land the 2012 San Benito News Citizen of the Year.

Avila, 70, is the founder of the Conjunto Music Hall of Fame and Museum and one of the organizers of multiple events, including the annual Noche de Ronda Valentine’s Dance and Conjunto Hall of Fame Induction Awards and Ceremony. His efforts have helped put San Benito on the entertainment map.

Avila was honored as the Citizen of the Year not just for his cumulative efforts over the years in preserving conjunto music and heritage, but also for sustaining the public’s interest in conjunto music events.

Avila, a San Benito native, has been in the area all his life. He attended Fred Booth Elementary and the old junior high school. He graduated in 1961 from the high school. Four years later, he married his wife Aurora and had five children.

Rey Avila3Avila’s legacy does not live on only in his children but in an idea that started more than a decade ago. As Avila visited San Antonio’s Tejano Music Hall of Fame inductions, he excitedly looked forward to seeing the city’s museum. He pictured a room of photographs and captions of musical icons, but San Antonio had nothing like it.

Shocked the big city “didn’t have any physical location for the Hall of Fame,” Avila decided San Benito should have a conjunto museum to preserve its musical heritage.

The rest is history. The Texas Conjunto Music Hall of Fame and Museum was founded in 2000.

“Our mission is to promote, preserve, archive, document and to permanently display the history of this unique genre of American music for present and future generations,” Avila wrote in a program from the last inductee ceremony.

Already with 58 inductees, the hall of fame inducts five musicians annually. The inductees hail from all different labels. Some actually signed under the IDEAL label, founded by the Rio Grande Valley Recording Company and once housed where The Sewing Box now stands.

The Rio Grande Valley Recording Company was, “the biggest distributor of Tejano and conjunto music in the early 50s and mid 60s,” Avila said. When the company stopped recording after owner, Paco Betancourt’s death, everything from “record presses, record stampers, documents, LPs, albums and a recording studio were left behind,” he said.

Betancourt’s son, Lionel, and his siblings were instrumental in helping Avila obtain these items for the museum. Avila said, “We worked out a deal where we cleared out the building in return for keeping the historical items.”

Avila said he was very grateful for their donation as well as the city’s help during the collection process. He said the city paid for the trash bins rental and collection for the cleaning of the building.

Though it’s been a long road, Avila said it was worth it to realize his dream.

“I’m about to share it with winter Texans from Canada and all over the country and even Europe,” Avila said.

The fundraiser, Noche de Ronda, is named after the Augustine Lara song of the same title. It means “going out on the town, having a good time” and not having to be too dressed up to “paint the city,” Avila explained.

Noche de Ronda is held yearly for Valentines. A live band plays, and raffles are held at throughout the night. The dance is held at the Knights of Columbus Hall, where they receive a discount of $500 yearly. Avila said, “I am so grateful they are able to do that, it helps out so much.”

As a former board member for the San Benito Literacy Center, now the START program, he was able to organize the Freddy Fender Home Fest. The festival brought Fender and the Texas Tornadoes to San Benito annually as a fundraiser.

Avila was also a supporting director for the Narciso Martinez Cultural Arts Center, where he served for two years. He has also served with the San Benito Historical Society for eight years before stepping down as president to further the efforts of the Texas Conjunto Hall of Fame and Museum.

Most recently, the hall of fame and museum has awarded scholarships yearly to students who play instruments or sing vocals for conjunto. This year, the museum awarded three $500 scholarships.

For Avila, his sacrifices have helped forever preserve a musical genre so intertwined with San Benito culture.

“This takes a lot of personal time. I’m not really a normal person; otherwise I’d be fishing or golfing. It’s not work though. I like it,” Avila said. “When I tell my wife I’m going to the museum for an hour, she laughs and says ‘One hour is five or six.’”

To see this story in print, pick up a copy of the July 18 edition of the San Benito News. Or view our E-Edition by clicking here.

Permanent link to this article: https://www.sbnewspaper.com/2012/07/17/rey-avila-named-citizen-of-the-year-for-work-preserving-conjunto-music-heritage/

10 comments

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    • Sandra Tumberlinson on July 25, 2012 at 9:27 am
    • Reply

    Rey Avila is a dedicated man who volunteers his time to benefit his community. He is a credit to our town. Congratulations Rey.

    • Mary L.Saldana on July 22, 2012 at 12:02 pm
    • Reply

    Congratulations Rey, you well deserve it.

    • Luna Moon on July 21, 2012 at 8:26 am
    • Reply

    Service to Community should never be about personal glory. I can think of many others much more deserving that quietly go about their work.
    “There is no restraining men’s tongues or pens when charged with a little vanity.” – Washington.

  1. It’s enough Mr Hernandez rides through main street parade as our mayor during christmas. If he ever accomplishes fixing the drainage problems(not so easy of a task) in SB and does for the citizens what no major has ever done in it’s cities intire history he will become a “Legend”. I’ll be glad to park my car five blocks away and walk in rain or shine to my house while maintance crews fix our streets drains. Ya I know! then I fell off my bed and woke up!! Will is back to Friday nights and getting ready to shower and go sit in the bleachers and watch SB Greyhound football. Hey ! Does anyone know if Mr Avila has his picture and story as founder anywhere in teh Museum?

    • Denny Crane Jr. on July 18, 2012 at 11:21 pm
    • Reply

    I firmly believe that Rodeo was being sarcastic when he mentioned Joe Hernandez as the 2013 Citizen of the Year.

    The day the San Benito News names Joe Hernandez as the Citizen of the Year is the day I cancel my subscription to the San Benito News.

    1. “I firmly believe that Rodeo was being sarcastic when he mentioned Joe Hernandez as the 2013 Citizen of the Year.”

      Lol Obviously.

    • Rodeo on July 18, 2012 at 10:37 am
    • Reply

    So like you all have named the 2012 Citizen of the Year a little too early. We are barely in July. Sounds like you all had your minds all made up. If you ask me, this award has no credibility anyomore when you don’t let the year finish. Even though I like Mr. Avila and what he has done for Conjunto Music, I personally think Lionel Betancourt founder of the Save the Dolly group shoud have been the winner. Let me guess, the 2013 winner has already been decided: Mayor Joe Hernandez.

    1. I don’t think so, Rodeo. In fact, the announcement has always been made in the summer, and accomplishments are not just cumulative from Jan-July but also in the latter part of the previous year. I’m sorry if this is not up to your standards, but I will say this: The 22 sponsors who supported Rey Avila as the 2012 Citizen of the Year disagree with your opinion that the award has “no credibility.” And I believe Mr. Avila would disagree with you as well. The mere suggestion is a bit silly coming from you; after all, you felt motivated enough to comment twice to voice your displeasure. Considering as much, it appears credible enough to draw your attention and earn your commentary.

      By the way, Mr. Betancourt was named the San Benito News Citizen of the Year in 2009.

      And why Mayor Joe H. Hernandez? Keep in mind that we’re also open to suggestions from the public. So tell me why you’d like you see Mayor Hernandez named the Citizen of the Year.

    • Rodeo on July 18, 2012 at 9:34 am
    • Reply

    The year has not ended and you all are already naming him the Citizen of the Year??

    1. Yes.

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